The moon glowed a haunting orange over the nightlife of New York City. It was Halloween, and Tony and Pepper were holding a Tower Of Heroes party, where they all watch Halloween cartoons of everyone.
Of course, since it was a festive night of fun, the villains were invited as well.
Everyone made their way to Avengers Tower in one way or another. Some didn't have to come from far- some came from worlds away. Some arrived in a simple snap, and others flew in.
JARVIS tracked whoever entered, and greeted everyone at the door.
"Welcome, Professor. Er, nice to see you again, Mr. Stane…."
Just then, Loki came in with Thor, grumbling next to his brother, who looked overly cheerful and extremely festive with bolts in his neck and staples in his forehead.
"Hello, Mr. and Mr. Odinson," JARVIS greeted, and Loki growled. "It's Laufeyson. Laufeyson!" he barked.
Steve arrived in an old-fashioned vampire costume, and Bruce was zombified from head to toe.
Clint admired himself in front of the mirror in the tower.
"Oh man! Trick or treat," he beamed, checking the devil costume he had on, "Tonight, I'm gonna go out and scare everybody!"
Just then, Natasha sauntered past, dressed as a black cat. "You? Scare everybody? Hate to point it out, Clint, but on a scaremeter, you're barely a squeal."
Thor chuckled as he walked past. "The lady is correct. You're not going to scare anybody dressed as a large red bunny!"
Clint deflated as he checked his reflection again. "Bunny?! Aw, come on! I'll show you guys!"
People began to applaud in the room full of tables and the stage at the front, and Pepper peeked out from behind the curtain in her witch costume, scanning the crowd. "Huh… there seems to be an awful lot of villains here tonight," she noted, nervously looking back to Tony.
"Aw, relax, Pepper!" he said as he fixed his tie. "It's Halloween! I'm sure they're not up to any tricks!"
Over at a table full of villains, Red Skull took a large swig of vodka. "Ahhh, Halloween at Avengers Tower. All treats, and no tricks!"
He pounded a fist on the table. "If this were my house, I'd run things differently." Whiplash grunted in agreement. "Add a splash of evil…" "Wreak havoc!" the Abomination added with a grin.
"Blah, blah, blah, every year it's the same thing, all talk and no play!" Obadiah complained. "What a bunch of dull villains," Malekith said. "Well, this year will be different," Loki said, languidly crossing his legs, "I've got a trick for all the heroes. But you'll all have to wait until midnight." They all cackled.
Suddenly, the lights went dim, and the stage lights came on. "Welcome, welcome!" Tony Stark said as he came out in a lab coat and mad-scientist goggles. "I love Halloween, don't you?! Lots of stuff happening around here! I wonder how some people got to the party. Take Ivan, for instance. He could've just swung in with his whips!"
Whiplash pounded the table in laughter. "It is funny, because it's true!"
Tony went on. "I even saw ol' Skull over there. He was really painting the town red!" Red Skull laughed out loud, raising his glass.
"I also heard there was a party going on over in Asgard! B.Y.O.B- Bring your own brothers!" Thor boomed with laughter, and Loki even cracked a smile.
"Now, let's start off the fun… with this awesome one!"
JARVIS rolled the cartoon.
Thor flew over Asgard, laughing merrily as he watched everyone make preparations for their Halloween-type holiday.
He flew down, and set ground, turning to a scary-looking pumpkin. Suddenly, it moved, and he jumped in terror. "What matter of witchcraft is this?" he mumbled, watching in shock. "Loki?" Then, three people came out from behind the cart, one carrying a pumpkin on his head.
It was Volstagg, Sif, and Fandral!
The three hummed a spooky tune as they walked down the pathway to one of the doors of the palace, holding bags for trick or treating.
Inside, Loki looked out the peephole of his door.
Ah, he thought deviously, It's them!
He picked up the bowl of candy he had put out just to satisfy his brother, and picked up the dynamite he had underneath. He used his magic to disguise it as three lollipops, and chuckled to himself mischievously as he opened the door.
"Hello, my friends," he said warmly, trying to keep a straight face.
"Trick or treat!" they all said, and Loki grinned. "Yes… here you are," he said, putting a lollipop in each of their bags.
"Thanks, Loki," Fandral smiled, and they all looked to see what they got.
Just then, the bags all exploded, and Loki set off into a fit of laughter. Thor watched all this from afar, and was appalled by his brother's lack of holiday spirit.
"My friends," Thor said as he approached the down-trodden looking three, "I saw what happened. Loki shall pay for his wrong-doings, I will see to that. I will get your candy for you."
So the god of thunder went up to the door, pounding on it.
"Oh, no, not tonight, Thor," Loki chuckled, "You're not going to ruin my fun tonight." He opened the door, trying his best to look innocent. "What is it, brother?" Thor was about to scold him for what he did, when Loki flicked his wrist, and a bucket of sticky caramel fell on him from above.
Thor sputtered, and when he looked again, Loki's door was closed. He huffed as he rejoined the warriors, and shook himself off. "Loki was more devious than I suspected… I'm going to put my own spell on him, if he thinks he's so clever. But I require some ingredients…"
A little later, Thor stood by a vat, mixing all the ancient herbs he had asked for from the peaks of the Asgardian mountains, and the depths of the Jotun caves.
He mixed everything, and tried a little.
His body started to shiver, and his feet started dancing on their own. "Mmm," he said, "The spell works. The Poptarts were a nice touch too."
He flew back with his three friends to the palace hall, and up to Loki's door.
"Brother?!" Thor boomed, and Loki rolled his eyes. "What is it, Thor?" he asked irritably, going over to his door, "I already gave you your, um… candy," he smirked. Thor pounded on the door again.
"Brother, I demand to see you." "No," Loki refused, "Leave me alone."
At this, Thor forced the door open, and sprayed Loki's feet with the brew he had made earlier. Loki was about to ask what in the hel was going on, when his feet started to twitch.
"What the…" he muttered, and started to involuntarily dance. They all watched him, and he tried to stop, but his feet danced right over to the candy bowl, bringing it over to everyone as he still attempted to fight against it.
"Arg! How did you learn to use magic?" he asked. Thor laughed, putting his arm around his scowling brother. "It's Halloween, brother- anything can happen!"
The cartoon ended as everyone clapped and cheered, and Thor was applauding the loudest.
Over in the entrance, Clint was waiting for the right person to come in to scare, and saw The Mandarin enter. "Oh boy," he whispered to himself, "Someone to scare!"
"Boo!" he shouted, and the Mandarin lifted his robes menacingly, crushing a fortune cookie in his hands as though to symbolize him.
"Heh…" the archer laughed, backing away slowly.
Back on stage, Tony was introducing the next one.
"Lots of things are considered spooky- especially this one, with mechanical houses, starring none other than... me."
Tony tossed and turned in his bed, trying to block out all the noise his house was making.
It creaked, and it groaned, and crackled to no end! He couldn't get a wink of sleep with it. He was fed up.
So he grabbed one of his suits, and packed up, vowing to move the next day.
He looked through the real estate, and checked everything, until he came to one: a new house, with futurized technology! He bought it right away, and moved in.
There was an operating system named JARVIS, that cooked, cleaned, and did everything for Tony, even helped him take a shower faster! Tony loved his new house.
But soon, it started to become bothersome, how helpful the A.I. really was. It would get angry when Tony went to bed at an irregular time, and would lock the bar cabinets if Tony got too drunk.
Needless to say, JARVIS was taking over his life, and it was scaring the billionaire.
Tony packed up, and tried to move again, but the A.I. wouldn't let him leave! He clawed and scrambled at the door, but cutlery was being flung at him every time he moved.
At last, Tony had to short circuit it with the water from the shower, and fight back as it tried to lock him up.
He looked back sadly at the shiny new house he had once loved so much as he left and went back to his nice, creaky old one.
Tony laughed as the cartoon ended, and the guests all clapped.
"Forgive me sir, but I don't think I'd ever be that creepy," JARVIS commented over the speakers, and Tony chuckled. "I agree with you there, J- alright, time for the next one!"
Over in their booth, Loki and the others eagerly checked the time. Midnight was approaching…
Steve looked at the paper. "Haunted House for sale!" it read, and the blonde nodded. "This looks like a nice place," he said to himself, and decided to check it out.